Blake's 30th Birthday & Following Hayleah For The Day

Sunday 11/18/2012



A couple of days after Maddie's 2nd birthday, we celebrated Blake's ( my 2nd daughters Tiffany's boyfriends ) 30th birthday.

Blake was blessed with two birthday cakes, because I found a yummy Reese's ice cream cake at Wal-Mart that day.

Lennox helped his dad open his presents. Blake's mom and step dad had just arrived that day from Iowa.

The next day my mom and I followed Hayleah around the area, while she took photographs for her art class. We first went to the Wharf in Orange Beach, AL. The Wharf is an outside shopping mall.



The Wharf sign on the Ferris wheel.

 

Hayleah took some really neat pictures that was done by a technique called HDR ( High Dynamic Range). I wish I had them to show on my blog but I don't.

Hayleah is thinking of following in her mothers footsteps.

My photograph of my soon to be Nana girl photographer.

We also went to the Gulf State Park Pier.

I had Mallery with me that day because she had got a immunization, and I didn't want to leave her alone,, in case she had a reaction. I had to stay in the parking lot, because dogs are not allowed anywhere on the pier or beach.

Once back home Maddie posed for a picture with her hat on. I was lucky to get this picture, because she put the hat on for just a few seconds. I wanted to put the hat on her, but she has become very independent and has to do everything by her self!

 

Madalena June's 2nd Birthday

Saturday 11/17/2012

We are currently in Gulf Shores, AL. Our girls, Alisha and Tiffany and grandchildren live here and we spend part of fall and winter here.

Madalena June is our youngest grandchild. She turned 2 years old on November 15th. She loves Dora, so Dora was her birthday theme.

This is Alisha's home, who is Maddie's mommy.

Maddie's older sister Hayleah drew the message on the chalkboard.

Alisha ordered pizza for lunch for everyone.

After lunch the kids went back outside to jump in the Dora jumping gym that Alisha and Jamie ordered for the birthday party.

Maddie was afraid to get in at first, but her mother went in with her, and she decided it was a lot of fun.

Noah, Aden, and Landon. ( Noah is Maddie's older brother. Aden is Noah's best friend, and Landon is Aden's little brother)

Lennox (my other grandson) jumping to touch the basketball net.

After the children used up some of their energy, it was birthday cake time.

Maddie's birthday cake was made up of cupcakes that were frosted together.

Lennox had been waiting all day for the cupcakes.

Joe missed Maddie's birthday, because he flew out of Pensacola, FL that day for Myrtle Beach, SC. His entire family got together for Thanksgiving and to celebrate his mom's 90th birthday.

Maddie was unsure why everyone was singing Happy Birthday to her.

Everyone coaches Maddie to blow out her candles.

Maddie was more interested in tasting the frosting on one of the cupcakes. Noah blew out the candles for her.

T.J. ( Jamie's sister's Sonya son) helped Maddie open her presents.

After cake, ice cream and presents, it was time to burn off the sugar highs. Noah turned 4 on June 2. I always miss his birthday because we are somewhere north where it is cooler.



The kids loved the slide in the jumping gym.

While the kids played in the jumping gym, the adults enjoyed the beautiful warm day on the front porch or inside watching the Iowa football game.

Lennox had his 4th birthday on September 17th, but we were still out west, so I missed his birthday also.

Mommy Alisha joined in on the fun. Noah and Maddie's dad, Jamie, is in Afghanistan serving a one year civil contract on a military base. It has been a hard year for all of them, being apart. Jamie will be coming home April 1st.

Everyone had a great day celebrating our Maddie June"s special day.

 

Family, International Food Fair, & Luxury RV Resort in Gulf Shores

 

One of the first days after arriving in Gulf Shores, Tiffany and Blake had us over for dinner. I was really glad to see my Nana boy Lennox!

He has developed a crush on his cousin Hayleah. He saw her wrapped in a blanket, so he got a blanket and wrapped himself up in another blanket next to her.

Later that week we were at Alisha's house, and I took some pictures of her newest family members. This is Robbin. Alisha saved Robbin from a box of 20 kittens that were left on the door step of her veterinarian.

The vet talked her into getting another one because she told Alisha cats do better in pairs. This one is Batman. Noah, my other Nana boy gave the kittens their names.

Batman wouldn't stand still for a picture, so Alisha held him up for me.

Batman has one blue eye and one gold eye. 

Maggie May is still doing good, but she bumps into things more than before. I love Maggie May! She still is my favorite.
I spent the night at Alisha's on Thursday night, because Hayleah had signed Alisha and I up to be chaperons for a school International Food Fair in Mobile, AL the next day. Our Nest was parked at Styx's River RV Resort which is about an hour away on Hwy 10 NE of Robersdale, AL. We had to be at Hayleah's school by 9AM, so having to get up another hour earlier didn't appeal to me. I slept on the couch, but as soon as I turned off the light the cats went into nightly wild mode, chasing each other across the room. Shortly after that, Robbin jumped up on me, but didn't quite make it. He hung on by digging his claws into my knee. I yelled at him but he didn't let go. I had to peel off his claws to get him to let go.I tried to put them in the laundry room, but after getting back on the couch and turning off the lights, I sensed someone looking at me. I turned and looked toward the floor only to see batman looking at me. I decided to sleep on Hayleah's hard flip chair that turned into a mattress in her bedroom verse's sleeping with the cat's from hell.
 

                                        Friday 11/16/12

Alisha and I found our way through Hayleah's high school to her French teachers class to get instructions on our duties.

All the halls had painted ceiling blocks done by the students. I thought that was a neat idea!

We were told that we were on Bus #2. Alisha and I found bus #2, and because it was cold out we opened the door and climbed aboard. We waited for about 10 minutes and wondered where everyone was. After no one showed up, we got off the bus and headed toward the school looking for the students. We saw Hayleah waving at us to come toward her, then she climbed onto a different. When we climbed onto that bus, we found that we were the last to get on. No body told us that the first two buses in the line of buses were not included in the line up. There was a space between the first two buses and all the other 8 buses, but how were we to know they were not included! Great start, lost chaperons! After boarding we got our lists out, and called out the names to make sure all our students were on.
 I tried to take a picture of Hayleah and her friend Chelsey, but she kept ducking below the bench seat. I guess she wasn't in the mood for pictures that day. The bus ride to Mobile took about a hour.

 

We had about a hour to go around and checking out all the different foods from around the world, and then get in line to purchase what we wanted to try. At noon we were suppose to stand by the stag, and our students were to check in with us. Unfortunately that was a waste of time. I had one good girl sign in, and Alisha and Chelsey's mom had no one sign in. Teenagers!

Then we had another hour to visit the international booths and exhibits. At this exhibit, people were instructed that they could write prays for Israel and then put them into the wall. Here is my daughter Alisha placing her pray in the crack of the wall. The prays will be taken to the praying wall in Israel.

There was also acts going on, on the stage by different countries. All my pictures taken at the fair were with my phone and they were not that clear. The act on the stage was of a gymnast that stacked several chairs, and then he did a hand stand at the top.

While I was at the fair with Hayleah and Alisha, Joe drove our Nest from Robertsdale to Gulf Shores to the Luxury RV Resort.

Joe was going to fly out to Myrtle Beach, SC the next day to spend Thanksgiving with his family, and I didn't want to be stuck a hour away from my girls. We were planning on driving to Myrtle Beach together, but a few weeks before we were to go, Joe's brother called and told us we could not bring our dog Mallery. Mallery is eleven and has a collapsing trachea. Anything that causes her to get nervous, hot, or to bark will irritate her trachea, which cause it to collapse more. When it collapses, she can not breath, so she goes into panic mode, which make the situation worse. She hates it at my daughters houses because they have animals and kids, so I couldn't leave her with them. She has not stayed in a kennel for years, because Joe's mother has always watched her for us when we use to travel before our Big Adventures. I decided it just was not worth leaving her, because I would just worry about her the whole time we were gone. I really think she would not be alive when I came home, if I left her, because she would be so stressed with us gone that long. Joe's family is celebrating his mother's 90th Birthday, so I really wanted to go. Because I was unable to go, I want to give a special shout out to Kay, "Happy 90th Birthday", I wish I could have come, because you (Kay) have been a wonderful mother in law to me!
 Joe parked our Nest at the very end of the park on the cul- d- sac.

The Luxury RV Resort in Gulf Shores is about 2 blocks from the ocean.

You can see the condo's that line the ocean from the park.

Between the park and the beach, it is a wetland. You can see the road on the other end of the park that takes you to the beach. This is the first time I have ever been on my own in our Nest. Joe was worried if something went wrong, I wouldn't know how to fix it. He always takes care of everything bus wise. So far so good!